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Ansel Adams Or Uncle Earl: Have We Been Hoodwinked?

July 29, 2010 5:38 PM ET

Claire O'Neill

Bill Turnage at the Ansel Adams Trust says, "We're calling it Ansel Scam." I spoke with him over the phone after learning of a new wrench in the whole Ansel Adams negatives story: KTVU in Oakland, Calif. has reported that a Bay Area woman named Miriam L. Walton believes the famed "$200 million" negatives might actually be her uncle Earl's:

Walton said her uncle lived in the Fresno area much of his life and often took pictures at Yosemite.

The photo taken by Walton’s Uncle Earl looks nearly identical to one of the examples that Norsigan has claimed to be from Ansel Adams.

Adams' grandson is still calling the whole thing bogus, and curators and critics around the country are questioning the yard sale negatives that Rick Norsigian claims to be authentic. "Not one of those experts [on Norsigian's team] was an expert on photography," Turnage says. More to come.